Guest SabrinaInDE Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 I apologize in advance for the small novel I'm about to write. In February, my husband accidentally stepped on our 10 1/2 year old greyhound Sassy's foot (she loves to be underfoot!) with boots on, and her foot swelled up and bruised terribly (even though she wasn't limping and didn't seem to be bothered by it). That same night, as I was icing her foot, I noticed that her nose drips were tinged red. I looked at her gums and they were slightly bloody alone the gumline. We took her to the vet, and they suspected a low platelet count. They ran a CBC, and couldn't even detect any platelets with the machine. The manual count came up with <10,000. We started her on Prednisone. However...Sassy was already on Metacam. The vet made a mistake (that he acknowledged) and did not tell me to stop the Metacam. However, I take full responsibility for this - I always look at drug interactions, and for whatever reason, I did not this time (I couldn't feel more guilty). Anyway, she did fine for the first 4 days or so. Then she stopped eating breakfast (Friday), then breakfast and dinner Saturday and Sunday, and by Monday was a sick dog down 12 lbs. We stopped the prednisone, Metacam, and took her to the vet. Her platelets had actually rebounded back to the normal range, but she was NOT well. She had tenderness around her abdomen, and we ended up taking her in for an ultrasound. She had a blood clot cutting off blood flow to one of her kidneys. The vet doing the ultrasound felt that her kidney was probably a loss. Thankfully, the other one looked completely normal and healthy. And since, her kidney values have been fine. However, after her platelets continued to climb for maybe a week (going up to 332k), they then began a slow but steady decline and have continued to do so ever since. We got the news today that they are now down to 10k, and we need to start her back on Prednisone. The vet (we are now seeing a specialist, and she has been under his care for the last month) said we can put her on a dose of aspirin after her platelets come back up a bit to prevent clotting, but he felt it was dangerous at this point with how low they are. My big concern is that the kidney clot happened within a week last time. He doesn't feel she is in danger of that happening again, but I'm terrified. We had a very, very sick dog. I thought I was losing her (I've lost three in the past two years; it has not been a good couple of years, to say the least). Has anyone dealt with anything like this before? Any words of advice? Or comfort, I'll even take that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MP_the4pack Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 Just hugs from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeedlenoseJake Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 No advice, but nothing at all was your fault! The vet is trained and paid to take care of your pet and they made a mistake. It happens and I'm not saying you should sue them or anything, but it most definitely was NOT your fault! Quote Photographer in Phoenix, AZ www.northmountainphoto.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 ITP-nasty, bitchy disease. Your dog needs to be on a immune suppressant drug-doesn't have to be pred. Pred is the first med they grab-it works and it's cheap but, as you know comes with a ton of side effects--weight loss and clots tend to be two of them. Let me ask you-did this vet check for any tick borne diseases before starting the pred? I would ask your vet about definitely giving your hound Pepcid or Prilosec and carafate while on the medication. Also, ask if your dog may be a candidate for plavix at least initially then switch to aspirin. You might ask about other immune suppressant drugs like azathioprine and cell cept. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SabrinaInDE Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 Just hugs from me. Thank you! No advice, but nothing at all was your fault! The vet is trained and paid to take care of your pet and they made a mistake. It happens and I'm not saying you should sue them or anything, but it most definitely was NOT your fault! Oh trust me, I'm not letting him off the hook. He definitely messed up. I just feel really guilty because I feel like ultimately she is my responsibility and I have to be her #1 advocate. And I messed up. It is what it is. I actually plan on changing vets. We moved to the area just a year ago so I don't have a long history with this vet (this is the first issue that has come up), and I haven't been happy with the way things have been handled. The only reason I haven't changed already is because we've been under the care of the specialist. ITP-nasty, bitchy disease. Your dog needs to be on a immune suppressant drug-doesn't have to be pred. Pred is the first med they grab-it works and it's cheap but, as you know comes with a ton of side effects--weight loss and clots tend to be two of them. Let me ask you-did this vet check for any tick borne diseases before starting the pred? I would ask your vet about definitely giving your hound Pepcid or Prilosec and carafate while on the medication. Also, ask if your dog may be a candidate for plavix at least initially then switch to aspirin. You might ask about other immune suppressant drugs like azathioprine and cell cept. He did mention changing her drugs after a time on pred. She was on Pepcid (and then Prilosec) and carafate after she became sick and wouldn't eat. I will ask about the Plavix, and other immune suppressant drugs. Thank you. Yes, I actually requested she be checked for tick borne diseases at the beginning of all of this. All were negative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EllenEveBaz Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 to you and to Miss Sassy Quote Ellen, with brindle Milo and the blonde ballerina, Gelsey remembering Eve, Baz, Scout, Romie, Nutmeg, and Jeter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SabrinaInDE Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 to you and to Miss Sassy Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbhounds Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 Any update? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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